A Texan individual faces a felony charge after reportedly drafting a series of inadequate checks to upmarket auto vendors—making off not only with a recent Mercedes-Benz S-Class but also a 2021 Ferrari F8 Tributo.
Authorities claim that on June 25, 2022, Angel Reyes, aged 44, entered Ferrari of Houston with the intention of acquiring a blue F8 Tributo from their stock. Reyes purportedly presented a Texas driver’s license as identification and handed over a check amounting to $468,702.16. Staff at the dealership mistakenly perceived this as a wire transfer and subsequently released the vehicle to Reyes.
By June 29, JP Morgan informed Ferrari of Houston that the check had bounced due to insufficient funds. The dealership contacted Reyes requesting the return of the vehicle, leading Reyes to allegedly respond with an image displaying a bank balance of $1.6 million. (Investigations later revealed this balance to be falsified.)
Staff at the dealership was alerted to the car’s whereabouts by a nearby restaurant, where they intercepted an unidentified male driver who claimed to have rented the vehicle from Reyes for an outing. The driver relinquished the car without conflict, but no information was recorded regarding his identity or contact details. The F8 Tributo seems to have been re-listed for sale subsequently.
Later, Reyes apparently visited Mercedes-Benz of Houston Greenway on July 8, where he purportedly falsified a credit application by declaring an annual income of $360,000. After handing over a $60,000 check for a down payment, which was also dishonored, he received a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S580. The vehicle was returned by an unnamed individual on July 13.
On July 28, employees at both Ferrari and Mercedes identified Reyes through a photo lineup. During investigations, it was also revealed that Reyes had issued other insufficient checks to dealers with varying degrees of success. He attempted to procure a 2021 Range Rover Velar using a $60,000 check on June 23. On June 28, he made a similar effort for a 2017 Audi R8 priced at $190,961.47, followed by another attempt on July 5 for a 2022 Maserati MC20 valued at $410,385.34. All these checks bounced, tallying the total worth of the vehicles to over $1.9 million.
At the time of the check-writing spree, authorities from Harris County disclosed that Reyes was already out on bail for prior financial offenses in 2021. According to ABC 13, one of these offenses involved stealing a Mercedes SUV from a rental agency in Florida and falsely reporting it as stolen in Houston utilizing counterfeit temporary tags bearing his name.
2022 Maserati MC20. Maserati
During court proceedings, Reyes informed officials that he had “no mony [sic]” to afford a legal representative and that his last known employment was in 2021. Reyes is scheduled to return to court on May 8.
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